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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ) 



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€&e Curnament of Coten&am 
ano tfce JFeefl 



Cfje Curnament of 

Cotenfwm anU 

tfje fmt 

©too earlg SSallana printed from a J&aniwcript 
preaertiet! in t^e public Hibrarp of ft>t 
©ntoersitg of £ambrtoee y 




ConBon 

QfiXtlliam ^tcfeering 

mDcccicjicSt 






w 



C. WHITTINGHAM, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. 



TO 

T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. 

AS A TOKEN OF SINCERE REGARD 
AND ESTEEM. 



PREFACE TO THE TURNAMENT OF 
TOTTENHAM. 



F this curious and interest- 
ing poem, several editions 
have already appeared in 
different collections of our 
older poetry. These have 
all, except that of Ritson 
in the posthumous edition 
of his Ancient Songs and 
Ballads, (who without ac- 
knowledging it has made 
much use of that text) 
been printed after the text given by Dr. Percy. 

The Turnament of Tottenham was given in the first 
edition of Percy's Reliques, from the printed copy con- 
tained in the History of Tottenham (1631) by Wilhelm 
Bedwell, rector of that parish. Bedwell's original was 
a manuscript which he had borrowed from the poet 
Withers. M Amongst sundry other treatises," he says, 
" in this copy, there is a story of Robin Hood and Little 
John, which seemeth to be done by the same author. . . . 
It is now seauen or eight yeares since I came first to the 




via 



sight of the copy, and that by the meanes of the worthy 
and my much honoured good friend, M. Ge. Withers, 
of whom also, now at length, I have obtained the vse 
of the same. . . .The verse was then by him, a man of 
so exquisite iugement in this kinde of learning, much 
commended. " He adds, "The author hath not any 
where through the whole booke, as farre as I remember, 
subscribed his name, to any treatise, more then to one, 
where I finde it thus, Explicit Passio Domini nostri, 
Jesu Christi, quod dominus Gilbertus Pylkynton : Now 
because the character or phrase is all the same, I haue 
no reason but to thinke they be all workes of the same 
author." 

In a later edition of his book, Dr. Percy rejected the 
text which he had taken, with a few conjectural emen- 
dations, from Bedwell, for one which was pointed out to 
him by Tyrwhitt in the Harl. MS. No. 5396, written in 
the reign of Henry VI. This he was obliged to correct 
in many places both by conjecture, and by Bedwell's 
copy, which was evidently printed, though incorrectly, 
from a much better manuscript. 

Since that period, another copy has been found in a 
manuscript of the Public Library of the University of 
Cambridge (Ff. 5. 48), one of the most interesting vo- 
lumes of early English poetry I have ever met with, and 
which appears on examination to be the identical manu- 



script that was formerly in the possession of Withers. 
It contains the ' Passio Domini nostri' with the Explicit 
at the end, and the tale of Robin Hood and Little John, 
which Bedwell has mentioned, with many other curious 

Sieces, as may be seen in the contents to Hartshorne's 
letrical Tales, where is printed, with all its errors, the 
description of the manuscript as given in Nasmith's 
unpublished catalogue of the MSS. of the Public 
Library. On the date of this manuscript, concerning 
which I conceive Nasmith, who attributes it to the fif- 
teenth century, to have been entirely mistaken, I have 
in an essay on another subject ventured the following 
observations :— 

" Internal evidence has led us to the conviction that, 
although it is a paper manuscript, it was written as early 
as the reign of Edward II., and the language and writ- 
ing do not contradict such a supposition. It must be 
premised that it was not written by an ignorant scribe. 
On the contrary, there are strong reasons for believing 
that the writer was himself a poet, and that he was the 
author of some of the pieces which it contains, where, 
in a stanza of four lines, the fourth line has been some- 
times exchanged for another expressing the same thing 
better or more poetically, and the last word, or two last 
words, of the second line altered to rhyme with it. 
" One article of this manuscript, near the middle of 

b 



the volume, is a brief poetical chronicle of the kings of 
England. It is brought down to the time of Edward 
II., in whose reign it ends thus : — 

' After him (i. e. Ed. I.) regned Edwarde his sone, 

And hase his londe alle and some. 

Make we us glaad and blithe, lordingus, 

Ffor thus endyn these kingus. 

Jhesu Crist and seint Lenard 

Save this king Edward, 

And gif hym grace his londe to zeme, 

That Jhesu Crist be to queme, 

Thrug his hestis ten : 

Syng we now alle Amen. Explicit.' 

" We can easily imagine that in many instances a 
poem like this written at one period, may have been 
copied verbatim at a later period without continuation, 
but, from the general style of the present manuscript, 
and from the consideration that this poem, as well as 
many others in the same volume were evidently intended 
for recitation, we can hardly suppose that, from political 
feeling, such a conclusion as the foregoing would have 
been retained after the second Edward's death. It 
is worthy of remark, that a poem apparently the same 
as this is found in the Auchinlek Manuscript, which 
seems, by the description of Sir Walter Scott, to have 
been continued up to the beginning of the next reign, 
when that manuscript was written — " He appears to 



XI 

have concluded his history during the minority of Ed- 
ward III. . . .The concluding paragraph begins — 

1 Now Jesu Crist and seyn[t] Richard, 
Save the yong king Edward, 
And zif him grace his lend to zeme, 
That it be Jesu Crist to queme, &c. 

Explicit liber Regum Anglia.' " 

After showing that another poem of this manuscript, 
King Edward and the Shepherd, must in all probability 
have been written in the reign of Edward II., I added — 

" The only poem which seems to give us any difficulty 
in placing this manuscript as early as the reign of Ed- 
ward II. is the last article but one of its contents, the 
prophecies of Thomas of Erceldoun, of which this is by 
far the oldest and best copy. The allusions, however, in 
this poem are vague and uncertain, and admit of no 
better explanation than can be given by mere conjec- 
tures. We have a proof of this in the circumstance 
that Sir Walter Scott, who had not seen the Cambridge 
manuscript, and was thus obliged to rely upon the erro- 
neous descriptions which had been given of it, supposed 
it to contain allusions to the battles of Flodden and 
Pinkie. It is a poem which seems to have been repub- 
lished at different times, with additional circumstances, 
and more explicit allusions to some which were supposed 
to have been accomplished. If the bastard, mentioned 



Xll 



in the third fit of our Cambridge copy, who was to be 
the ruler of all Britain, be Edward I., the circumstance 
which was to mark the conclusion of his reign — 



l o J 



■ The bastard shalle go in the Holy Land ; 
Trow this wel as I the say : 
Tak his soule to his hande 

Jhesu Christe, that my cull may,* 

proves it to be part of an edition published as early as 
1306, when that king made a vow to end his life in an 
expedition against the Saracens. It is probable that in 
our Cambridge copy there is no allusion to events of a 
later period than the reign of Edward II. The curious 
mention of Black Agnes, the celebrated countess of Dun- 
bar, who defended that castle against the English in 1 337, 
seems to create a difficulty. But there is in the poem 
no allusion to that siege, we are not aware that the pro- 
phecy concerning her end was ever fulfilled, and the 
whole seems to show rather a feeling of resentment 
against her on the part of the English, arising from her 
already established character, and her known opposi- 
tion to the English interests. The singular connection, 
too, which is described as existing between her and 
Thomas, the supposititious author of the prophecies, com- 
pared with the allusion at the head of the brief prophe- 
cies in the Harleian MS. No. 2253, of the reign of the 



Xlll 

second Edward, would lead us to suppose that the two 
pieces were contemporary. " 

Besides the advantage of having here a carefully 
correct copy of the Turnament of Tottenham from the 
best and oldest manuscript, the reader will have an op- 
portunity of comparing an edition of the beginning of 
the seventeenth century with the original from which it 
was printed, and of judging with how little accuracy 
they then thought it necessary to follow their copies. In 
the notes, I have given the chief various readings of the 
Harleian MS. from Percy, for they were printed when I 
was resident at Cambridge, and when therefore I could 
not have ready access to the MS. Harl. itself. 

When Bedwell printed from Withers' manuscript the 
Turnament of Tottenham, he did not observe that 
there was there a shorter poem, equally in burlesque, and 
evidently intended as a sequel to it. The Turnament 
ends with a brief account of the feast which is given on 
the occasion of the nuptials of Perkyn and Tibbe ; the 
other poem to which we allude gives a more detailed 
account of this feast, and of the dance which followed , 
in the person of a minstrel who attended at it, and the 
two persons who chiefly figure in it are again Perkyn 
and Tybbe. I have thought it desirable to print this 
ballad after the Turnament, on account of its subject, 
and the more so because, though difficult enough in 



XIV 

itself, the blunders of Mr. Hartshorne, who printed it, 
have made it in his collection perfectly unintelligible. 
I have endeavoured, as far as I could, to explain the 
more difficult words in the notes, but in a few instances 
I have found it impossible to make anything of them. 

With regard to the Wood cuts : — the initial letter at 
the head of this preface is taken from the MS. Harl. 
1717 (13th cent.), which contains the long Metric? 1 
Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy by Benoit de 
Sainte-More, now printing in France under the care of 
M. Michel; its subject is the baptism of Rollo. The 
cut below, as well as that at the end of the notes, are 
both taken from a curious missal (14th cent.) in the 
library of Trinity College, Cambridge. 

THOMAS WRIGHT. 




Cfje Curnament of Cotenfmm 



i 
<3Df alle tljefe kene conque^ouregf to carpe i& oure 

kpnfce: 
£Dff fel fegljtpng; folfee izilv toe fpnUe / 
'(Ilje turnament of ^otenijam Ijaue 31 in mjmbc : 
^it toeje Ijajme acf) fta^ipnelle toeie tjolDpn be 
Ijpntie / 
31 n ftoip as toe je&e 
flDff ^atolpn/of l^arcp/ 
£Dff ^pmfepn / of Cprrp / 
3Dff tljapm tijat toere tmjtp 
#nti IjajUp in Detie. 

it 
3£it befel in Cotenijam on a Dere Dap / 
Cjjej toa0 ma&e a fintrtpna; be tfje tipe toap : 
'QLljiDe^ come alle tlje mm of ttjat contjap / 
<3Dff ^iffelton / of %pte / and of ^afeeriap* 
and alle tlje ftoete CtopnfeejS: 
W$t\ ijopppli ^atofcpn/ 
W$z\ Datonfiti 2)atofeptt/ 
^Ije^ trumps ^mfepn/ 
#nti toere trtoe topnfee?& 

ft 



Hi 
<3£ille tlje tiap toag gon an& euefong pafte / 
^ijat ttjai flmtoe recfcpn tljatre Cfcot ana t^atre 

county caffe : 
^ecfepn tfie pottej tn to tlje pjeeg pafte / 
&n& Celt! / Iftontull tlje refe / a tiojtei ti)tt Ijafte/ 
'Eibbe tlji Dqe : 
^ejfo? fapne toete tool&e 3 / 
aaitjet^ej tijefe feioto0 or 3 / 
£Dr toijtcl) of alle t1)t0 faacljele^ / 
tL(llejtt^ebefttoDjt|)ptototi3^trtD5i0fere. 

ft 
^npftejtt tlje gatilpngg tottt) tljaire lang ftaues/ 
^Lnti Cefo / l&ontipll tf)e refe / io / tfjtg lati rauc0 : 
3koto pjuMp among 130 tljp tiojtej Ije craueg / 
Sin!) toe ar ririjej men t^en tje / ants more goDe 
Ijaues 
£Dff catell anli of cojne : 
Cljen fetD ^erfepn / to <2H6be 3| fjatte fipjt 
^at 31 to ill be alle toep jetip in mj rijt/ 
aaittti afteple to£ to fpgi)ttf)i0 Dap Ceuen n^t/ 
ilnti tljottj Ijit to ere to morotoe. 



^m feib l&onDill tije reft/ euec be fje toa^b / 
^ijat aboute tljte cajppng; lenge? toolbe be tajpti : 
31 tooloe not mp bojte£ ttjat flbe Voeje mpf fearpD / 
But at ijij tttooft toortyip 3| Voolbe u)e toerc 
marpb : 
iffo?. tbe turnament ffjalte begpnne 
Cbis Dap feuen w>?t/ 
Saiittj a flaple fo? to fp?t : 
#no be t!)at is mode of mp?t 
^>balle fyofe bit toitb topnne. 

to 

3$e tbat be^s bpm beft in tlje tucnament / 
Ikefibal be ffjauntin tbe B'?e be fbe compn affent/ 
iffoj to topnne mp Do?te? toitlj uujtpneffe of Dent/ 
&no toppull mp brooe ijen tljat toas b?o?t out of 
Hent/ 
&nD mp bonnet) coto : 
iffoj no fpence toill 3! fpaie / 
iffo? no catell toille 31 tait / 
Ike fballe Ijaue mp giap majc / 
#nb mj» fpottpo fotae. 



bit 
■tl&e? toas monp a bolbe lab ftjeue bobps to bene: 
Hban tljet tofee tbeije letic / anb Ijamtoartie tfjet 
?ebc : [Wtt I 

#nb alle tlje tuefee aftejtoarb tfjet ccraptbeb ber 
%\\\t bit come to tlje Dap tljat tljei ffjulbe Do tljairc 
%tyi ajmpb tfjepm tit matted : [bebc. 
Ctjei Cett on tfjeije nolleg 
(Bobe Make bolles / 
f foi to fcepe tfjeije polite / 
jffo? batte^ng; of battel, 

but 
cOm fttoeb tjem in frijepe ffcpnneg/ for rtjei (bulb 
notbjeft: [acreft: 

<anb ettej tlkon of bent a blac Ijatte / t'n ftfotie of 
Si baffeett o? a panpej be fore on tljai?e b?eft/ 
anb a aaple t'n tljei^e Ijonbe: for to fp?t preff / 
ifojtij eon tbet fa?e : 
%ty\ to as tub mpcull fo# / 
Cfilljo fbulbe belt fenb W to?s : 
l£e rtjat babe no pbe bois / 
Bojotopb b?nt a mare* 



*s>icf) a notfie? ciotijpna: Ijaue 31 not fene ofte 
CL&ifjen alle ttje giret cumpanp come riDanti to tlje 
_ crofte : 

^tbbe on a g^ap maje toag Cett fcpon lofte 
(Hlpon a fecfee full of Centime for flje fljulti Ctt Cofte/ 
#nO leDUe tille tfie pppe: 

iffort^e? toolli tye not tljan 

ifoj t^e iuf of no man/ 

^tlle coppull tiir iijolie fjen 
aaieze bjo?t tn to f)it lappe. 

X 
& ffa? ffP^Dull ^Itbbe tiatie bojotoeti for t^e nones/ 
SLnb a gajlanD on Ijiu i)e& full of rttell bones / 
SLnb a bjoclj on l)tr bjeft full of fap^ze (tones / 
%\)t t)olp ?otie tofepnpng; toas toriton foj tlje 
nones : 
jfoj no fpentipns: toolOe tlje? fpaze / 
JLailjen tolp Jepnfepn tottt Ijir tljaze / 
^e ffttjtic fo fall l)t0 cp c at> maze / 
^Ijat flje lete a fotofepn fa^e 
&ttf)e jecetoajHe. 



Xi 
3 make a tioto / quoti %ihbt / coppull 10 compn 

of kpntie. 
31 fyalle falle fptie in tlje fcl&e / anti 31 mp flaule 
fyntie/ [be ijpntie / 

31 make a tJDlo / quoti Mrttie / 3 ffjalle not letie 
S^ap 3 wete tottf) ^?a?tie oj ©apajtie tlje blpniie/ 
3 toot 3 ftljalle tfjepm grebe : 
3 make a fcoto / quoti %aufcpn / 
9l£ap 3 tnete tottf) 2Daufepn / 
iffoj alle ^(0 ricti fepn / 
l^igf aaple 3 tyaile Ijpm retie. 

jcit 

3 mafee a tioto / quoti (Bregge / ^tb / f&u ffjal fe / 
aQl^tc^ of alie t|ie bacijelerp gcauntiti tg tfje gee: 
31 fljalle f feomfet Ijem alle / foj tfje luf of tfje ; 
||n totjat place tfjat 3 come tfjet fyall tiaue tiout 
of me / 
jffoj 3 atn ajmpti at tfje fole : 
3n mpn aimpjs 3 &w to ell 
ja Ooj tcoj / anii a pele / 
& Catiull tottf) otot panele/ 
ctfliitf) atteceof toole* 



titi 

if5oto go DoVon / quoD SDutanan / anli bece me bet 

aliotote/ 
31 make a tioto ttjet ffjall abpe tljat 31 fyn&e otore/ 
^aue 3 rtopCe oj tijjife rtiien tfirttj tjje rototc / 
3n toljat place tljat 3 come of me tljet fyai Ija 
%vn a^m?0 bene Co cleje / [Hottte / 

3 bar a riDell anU a rake / 
^ottOurt toiti) ttje brenpng; fyake / 
arm tine cantete of a cake 
3 n like aco^neje. 

3 make a fcolo / quoti ^Tirrp / anD Ctoeje be m? 

creUe / 
^>ato tljtt neuej pong; bop fojtljej fu'0 boisp belie / 
iffor toljen tljei fyjt fafteft anD molt er in ticetie / 
3 Ojalle take %ib be tlje IjonD / anD aVoap fjft le&e: 
Ctjen bpn m^n ajmps bed / 
3 ber apiiri) of ermpn/ 
^otttiert totrij a catt tfepn / 
%1)e cljefe tgs of pecfjmpn / 
Cljat ftonDi0 on tlje trettc. 



% make a tioVn / quoti 2Dubman / atiH Ctoeje be 

tbe Ora / 
aailjil 31 am molt me?p tlju gets fttr not ftoa: 
5fo? l|jc 10 toel tbappn / as li?t as a ra / 
Cbe? is no capull in tin's xnvlz before be? toil ga : 
»»be toil me not beadle : 
31 tiar fotbelp Cap / 
£5>be toil be a montiap 
jffjo %'flHtoun to i^attnap / 
jfcojt otbej Tjalfe mptev 

rbi 
31 mafee a boto / quob ^erfcpn / tbu cajpis of coin 

rod/ 
3j toil \xvvkt toifelie? toitb out anp booll : 
f fpbe of tbe belt capuls tbat ar in tbiS boft / 
31 toill bem lebe atoap. be anotbe? cooft : 
&nb tben loto? Cibbe* 
affile loo / bopes / Ije^e is be 
^bat toill fpjt anb not fle / 
5f toi 31 am in mp iolpte ; 
3!oo fojtb / ^ibbe» 



Xtii 
Wfym tljai gad tgaire ottjeg made / fojtl) can tgei 
tc / [tee : 

(tfllttt) flapleg and i)a?np0 and tjumpig malic of 
<W^ti toeje all t&e bacl)ile$ of ttjat contje: 
%Ui Wit dijt in arap a# tijaim felf toolde be : 
%$tiiz banec toaa ful b?p?t 
<3Dff an olde raton fell/ 
Cbe cgefe toas of a ploo mell/ 
and tjje fcgadoto of a bell/ 
^Duajtejd toitb tbe mone U?t 

jctim' 

3] toot it toag no cftjlde? gamme togen ttjei to 

ffedej mett/ 
(HHgen like a freke in tlje felde on gig feloto bette/ 
and leid on tfiflp /fo? no tijpng; toold tgei lett/ 
and fojt fejlp faft / til tge^e go?0 Duett / 
and feto too?di0 toeje fpofcpn. 
Wqq toe^e napless al to ftate^de / 
<W$ti toeje ftfjeldig al to clatejde/ 
©olless and difigis al to batejde / 
and monp gedig tgeit»e?e bjofepiu 



XiX 

<<If)er toag clenfepno; of cart faatlg ana clate^ng 

of cantus; : (Tannest : 

ADfE fel f?elit0 in ttie feela bjofcpn toe^e tljaire 

€>ff fum toeje tlje ftetitgf bjofepn/ of fum tfje b?apn 

pannes / 
#na euei toeje tfiep be fene z\ tfjep toent tljannes : 
(IBitl) ftoipppng of ftotpplleeL 
W$z laaat'0 toe^e fo tocjp foj fo?t/ 
^at ttjai mpjt fpjt no mo?e on loft/ 
©ut creppta aboute in ttye crofte/ 
&& tljei toeje crofetH crgpilgf. 

XX 
^erfepn Voags fo toe^ t&at Ije began to lotote : 
%lpe / *maae / 31 am aea in tijig ilfee rotote : 
Sin 1)0^3 foj tf penpg / a pae ana a ftoute / 
^at 3| map itjtty cum of mpn one otote/ 
JToj no coft toti 3 fpaje. 
l^e ftejttip a0 afnaple/ 
&na Ijent a capull be tlje taple / 
ana jaujt of 2Daufepn lj& aaple / 
ana toan i)pm a maje, 



XXi 
^ecfejm loan fpfce / anti IftuDUe toait ttoa : 
(Blati ana bliti) tt>ai toeje tljat tljei jjati tiotx Ca : 
^!jat toolDe fjatte tljaim to %ibbz/ an& prefent 

t)ir toiti) ttja : 
tOjc capitis toe?e Co toejp tfjat tljct mpjt not 5a / 
©at ftille can tjjet ffoniie. 
alas / quod ^uD / mp tope 31 left : 
9£e fjati letter tljen a fton of cljefe / 
tD&at tieje %ihbt IjaU alle tljefe/ 
anti Voift 5 it toeje mp fonDe. 

y.nt 
^erfcpn tujnpti !#m aboute in tljat ilfee tljjong;/ 
l£e foujt f^eOTjlp for jje IjaD jeft t)pm long : 
^e toag Voar of <aKrrp take <(Ob be t^e IjonU / 
anli toolfc taue lati t)tr atoap toiil) a luf foncp 
anti ^erfcpn aftej ran : 
anU of W capull ^e Ijpm tiptoe/ 
ana gaf l#m of t)i0 flaple inotoe : 
%$m te Ije : quoD %ih / ant) lotoe / 
Xz ar a tiujtp man. 



rnii 

Z§\i$ tW tuffpt and tljei ruffjut til l)it toa* 

nv nvn: 
ailc tfje topues of tLotenfjameometofetljatfijt/ 
at! fec^ Ijome tfjaire ijufbondid / tfjat toeie tfjanmt 

trottttic pli5t/ 
CcLtttl) toifpyg and feejrig / tfjat teas a ricti lijt/ 
^c: ljufbondis Ijome to fee!) : 
and fum tfjep i)ad in aimps 
Cljat toe:e febull tomfjeef/ 
&nd fum on toljelebaiotoes / 
and sum on cric$c& 

Zfytv ryedtnt ^crfct>n aboute on euerp atie / 
Slnlf fiaunt ijym t^er tlje 52c tfje mo:e toas §10 

pride : 
Wib and tje toitlj giet mml) fjamtoard ean zide, 
and toeie alnpn totyedu: til t^e mo:oto tide : 
and to etjhel) ttyv toent: 
3>o toel W nedid fjc ^afe fpedde / 
Cfiat deie Zibbt Ije fyall toedde : 
W&z eijefe men tfjat f)ir t^idei ledde 
aaieit of ttje Cumament. 



tEo ttjat ncl) Ceff come monp to\ tije nonpj* : 
•sum come ijtpljalt/anti Cum trippanbe tjjtt&er 
on ttje fton?0 : [omjjf : 

S>um totti) a ttaffe in ijtsf Ijontie / anti Cum too at 
£>f fum toeje tlje ijebte fyofcpn / of Cum ttje 
tcfjuloej bonpg : 
flMtl Cojoto come tljep tljiou?. 
(IQloo toas l^atofcpn / too toag ^arrp / 
Mloo toag 'QTomfepn/ tooo toag %ivtjf / 
2tno Co toag al tlje company / 
But jet tfjei come to ge&e?. 

Sit tljat fett toe^e tfjei Cempti in a rtcl) ajap / 
(Euerp fpte anb Cpbe fjaH a cofcenep / 
&n& Co tfjep Cate tn toltte al tfje long: bape : 
^ibbe at npjt J troto Ija&e a Cpmpull ajap : 
9£tcull mpjtl) toas tfjapm among. 
3n euerp comej oftlje IjotoCe 
aaias meloUpe DeltctouCe/ 
iffoj to Ijeje pjeciouCe 
£>ff 0* mennpss Cong;* 



Wt}<£ JFaREfetL 



i 
i^flDaai of ttits feett telle 31 can 
3! tjoVo as toel as anp man 

Be ett or he toeft/ 
iffoj ouer alle in ilfee a fcljire 
3 am fenti for as a (ire 

%o tlfce a g:jet fell 

it 
jFfoj in fetrij ttjer toas on 
^>tct) on faVo 31 neuer non 

3|n 3|n5lonU ne in ifraunce : 
jffor tfjer Ijatie 3 tij* ntatft?? 
j©f alle maner of cucrp / 

&itfj t&en toas myfcfcaunce. 



Hi 
^Ijar toag meptss toel &ijt/ 
ftllell CeConeU to tfje ?tff])t/ 

j2Dff roll ant) of Ceto : 
Ctjej toag nuptg be jjenen 
^fjat toeje a maift^e al to nenen / 

IBut fum 31 con goto. 

to 
^ej teas peftel0 m pojra / 
anli latiulgf in ro^ra / 

jFfoz potap ♦ ♦ ♦ 
&nt> fomm Ca&ute in Cetopg / 
#n& maft)tfatt0 in mojtretopg / 

jffoj t^e leefe .... age* - 

ft 
^fj^toagpUnteofalle 
^lo t^evm t^at toe?e in ^alle / 
_ ^o letfe anU to moje/ 
^er toas g^nDulftoneg in gratis / 
£nU mplftoneg in matomattp / 
£n& al tijis toas tljoie. 



bi 

But ?ct Ictt ttiet fo: no coftgf/ 
jffo: in cum mvlnz polls 

iij in a tuTflbc / 
anli bell claptns in blatonluftue / 
Gfllitf) a nobttil cur? / 

5 fin rtjo tijat m no fiffl). 

bit 

^cc come in io:&ans in iufiTall/ 
aid rrD as anp ntffall / 

Come tijer among : 
anti blobftciMS in toljite forre 
Cfllasf of a nobttil turn?/ 

afilitf) rpiccrp (hong* 

tifit 

%tyz come cljefe crttftis in ctjajlett 
as rcD as an? fcarlette / 

CClttf) rttbaninriTe: 
Ce:te5 of alle tlje feftis 
'Cljat ettcr J fato in geftis 

Cljis map ber t§e p:ife. 



i% 

'QTbet toaa catted! in cambpg / 
anli capulgf in cullpg / 

Miitb blanoametgf in oojoe ; 
^be neotu lippe of a lajfce 
Qitllaef ti?ogi)t in a mufc cart 

£nofet befot tge lo:oe. 

r 
tEben come in fteoig of Sipapn / 
Scilitf) tfje brute of aimapne / 

(laiitb palf?ape0 in patte : 
& no oongettefeg in ootalle 
CLtllas fo^feo toeleVoitf) cljaicoU/ 

©ut cectes tbat toad toaftc. 

Xi 
'(Eben come in tfje fmtuce / 
CLQiitlj a nobul fauoute/ 

aQlitb fetejlofes fn'eo : 
ano. alle tbe catt tofjelte of l&ent / 
(Lfllitb ttonpg of tlje payment/ 
iFful toel toete tijei ttieo* 
it 



Xii 
^fjen come in a tiojfe Ijeb 
3in tt>e ftto of jfrenrij oreoe/ 

(Ifllttf) alle ttje rtrije fjioe ; 
|2oto ijaoe 31 not t&fej feen / 
iibum of joto toolD Voene 

jFMIotDDetJatgipe^ 

riii 
W$vc come in rtie fepooe 
3Dretrpo in a ijojfe Cpoe / 

tfcpat aigf teas to lefe: 
iijpronfKijotD?/' 
&no manp totjele bacotoeg/ 

3|n t&e ftiD of neto cftefe. 

aat^en fpep ftao oratoen t&e bojtie / 
%tyxt feto perfcpn a toojoe 

l£ptmelf toafoatonce: 
fepn toefiaue made poe rfjere/ 
31 jeo ilfee man in feje 

(Boo oieffe tgm to a oaionce. 



rb 

W$n }t mpgftt fe a tnttv fisbt/ 
TOcn tfjei toeje fammen fcnptte/ 
_ a2ittb--out anp faple ; 
ttfief diu but ran etftoarb / 
and tike a man toent baktoatb 
<<Ioppe ouer taple* 

rbi 
^bbe toeje full tbarre of pert/ 
#g fcpr batonttb u)e late a fart/ 

jffojttombplpngat^.* 
ilioto / arri0 / foi pouj curtefp / 
TO& tbt0 foj no bilanp / 

©ut alfee man crpe ?tfo**.» 

rbu 
iSDffi tptg fell can 3! no moje / 
But cetteg tpel mabe bam merp tboje / 

OOiptl tge ba# toolb latt/ 
Xet mpggt tpei not alle in fe?e 
^aue eton tge meptig 31 recfeenb bere / 
35ut tbetre bodpg fab braft\ 
(fccpltttt iffabula. 



NOTES TO THE TURNAMENT OF 
TOTTENHAM. 

Stanza I. 

Gloss. To carpe, to talk, tell tales — hynde, nature—^/, many 
—ferly, wonder — duzty, doughty. 

L. 3. The Harleian MS. reads 'have we in mynde' for 'have 
I in mynde.' 

L. 9. The Harl. MS. has here < stalwortiV in place of < hardy.' 

Stanza II. 

Gloss. Hit, it: the pronoun is declined through its genders m. 
he, fern, heo, n. hit. — shurtyng, a pastime — be, by — hye, high 
— swynkers, labourers. 

L. 2. A shurtyng. Percy explains this word to mean recrea- 
tion, diversion, and refers to the Glossary to Gawin Douglas. 
It is from the Germ, scherzen, Belg. scherssen, Ital. scherzare, 
jocari. 

L. 9. The Harl. MS. reads 'and all were trewe drynkers/ 
In Middle English orthography the e, before a w, in such 
instances as trwe here, is frequently omitted. 



Stanza III. 

Gloss, prees, croud — refe, reeve or bailiff— -fayne, gladly 
— wete, know— -fere, companion, mate. 

L. 4. ' Randol the refe/ MS. Harl. 

L. 5. This and the four following lines stand thus in the 
Ilarleian MS. (as they are printed in Percy) — 

'Tybthedere: 
Therfor faine wyt wold I, 
Whych of all thys bachelery 
Were best worthye 

To wed hur to hys fere/ 

Stanza IV. 

Gloss, upsterte, started xrp—gadlyngs, idle lads — hyzt, pro- 
mised — rizt, right — nyzt, night — thouz, though. 

L. 1. gadlyngs. This word in Saxon signified a companion, 
or fellow ; but, like many others, in middle English it had 
become debased in its application, so as ^to mark a low person 
and a vagabond. In the tale of Gamelyn, printed in Urry's 
Chaucer, it is used for a young person of unknown or mean 
birth. The elder brother says to young Gamelyn : 

" Stondith stille, thou gadiling, 

And holdith right thy pees : 
Thou shalte ben full faign to have 

Thy mete and thy wede. 
What spekist thou, thou gadiling, 

Oflondothiroflede?" 



Gamelyn answers — 

" Then seide to hym Gamelyn, 

The childe that was yinge, 
Christis curse mote he havin 

That clepith me gadlyng : 
I am no wors gadlyng than the, 

Parde, ne no wors wight, 
But born I was of a lady, 

And gottin of a knyghtT 

Tale of Gamelyn, 1. 202—216. 

L. 3. MS. Harl. has 'boldely ' for 'how prudly/ and in the 
next line omits the word ' and ' at the beginning. 

L. 6. This and the three next lines stand thus in the Harleian 
copy — 

" Then sayd Perkyn r < To Tybbe I have hyzt 
That I schal be alway redy in my ryzt, 
If that it schuld be thys day sevenyzt, 
Or elles zet to morn. ? " 

Stanza V. 

Gloss, waryd, cursed — taryd 7 delayed — brok, use, enjoy — 
wynne, pleasure. 

L. 5. ' Therfor a turnament schal begynne,' Harl. MS. 

Stanza VI. 

Gloss. berys,hears — gre, prize — dent, dint, blow — brode, brood 
— brozt, brought — donned, dun — spence, expence, 
L- 1- < whoso berys/ Harl. MS.. 



L. 4. coppull. Percy explains this word, in a note, by cop- 
peld, and observes " we slill use the phrase a copple- crowned 
hen. 11 

Stanza VII. 

Gloss, bede, offer — zede, went — graythed, made ready — her, 
their — wede, clothes. 

L. 3. in the printed copy the word ' graythed/ which Percy 
has erroneously explained to mean put on> is changed to ' gayed.' 

L. 7, 8. are transposed in the Harl. MS. 

Stanza VIII. 

Gloss, ilkon, each one — prest, ready — con, began— Jare r to 
go — kid, shown, proved (ge-cyd r Sax.). — mycull r much— -fors, 
force — fend, defend — cors, body. 

L. 2. ' ilkon toke a blak hat/ Harl. MS. 

L. 9. 'he gat hym a mare/ Harl. MS. 

Stanza IX. . 

Gloss, ridand, riding — upon lofte, on high — secke, sack — 
senvye, mustard seed . 

L. 1. 'sych another gadryng/ Harl. MS. 

L. 4. senvye. "The [Harl.} MS. had once 'sedys/ i.e. 
seeds, which appears to have been altered to ' fedyrs ' or fea- 
thers." Percy. 

L. 5. The Harl. MS. reads these five lines thus — 

" And led hur to cap. 
For cryeng of the men 
Former wold not Tyb then, 
Tyl scho had hur brode hen> 

Set in hur lap." 



Stanza X. 

Gloss, nones, occasion — rode, rood — tokynyng, ensign — wist, 
knew — gurde, struck— -fowkyn, fart. 

L. 1. <Tyb had on borowed,' Harl. MS. 
L. 2. rwe// bones. The Harl. copy has ' rounde bonys.' The 
term ruell bones occurs again in the ballad of Thomas of Er- 
celdoun and the queen of Faery, contained in the same MS. at 
Cambridge from which we have printed the Turnament of Tot- 
tenham. 

u Hir saddil was of ruell bon, 
Semely was that sight to se, 
Stiffly sette with precious ston, 
Compaste aboute with cramase." 

" Perhaps bones diversely coloured, f. riole, or perhaps small 
bone-rings, from the^r. rouelle, a small ring or hoop. Cotgrav. 
Diction." Percy. 

Tyrwhitt thinks the most plausible derivation is from " fr. 
rouelle, rotula, the whirl-bone or knee-pan." The word occurs 
in Chaucer's Rime of Sire Thopas (Cant. T. v. 13807), where 
it is also mentioned as the materials of the knight's saddle — 

" His jambeux were of cuirbouly, 
His swerdes sheth of ivory, 

His helme of latoun bright, 
His sadel was of rewel bone, 
His bridel as the sonne shone, 

Or as the mone-light." 

L. 4. ' Wyth the holy rode tokenyng, was wrotyn for the 
nonys/ MS. Harl. Percy interprets wrotyn by wrought — per- 
haps, however, it differs only in orthography from the wry ton 
of the Cambridge MS. 

t 



L. 5. 'No cattel they had spared,' Harl. MS. 
L. 6. i Gyb saw' is the reading of the Harl. MS. for ' Jeyn- 
kyn wist.' 

Stanza XI. 

Gloss, comyn, come — kynde, race, ancestry— -falle, knock 
down— hym reve, take from him. 

L. 1. This stanza is thus printed in Percy from the MS. 
Harl. : 

1 1 vow to God, quoth Herry, I schal not lefe behynde, 
May I mete wyth Bernard on Bayard the blynde, 
Ich man kepe hym out of my wynde, 
For whatsoever that he be, before me I fynde, 
I wot I schall hym greve. 
Wele sayd, quoth Hawkyn. 
And I wow, quoth Dawkyn, 
May I mete wyth Tomkyn, 

Hys flayle I schal hym reve.' 

L. 4. Bayard, a bay horse — Lyard, a grey horse. " Blind 
Bayard" seems to have figured in the popular proverbs of our 
peasantry. In Heywood's " Dialogue conteyning the nomber in 
effect of all the prbuerbs in the Englishe tounge," he is twice 
introduced — in part L chap. 8. 

" Boldly and blindly I ventred on this, 

How be it, who so bolde as blynd Bayard is." 

And again, part i. chap. 12 — 

" And after this a monthe, or somewhat lesse, 
Their landlorde came to their house to take a stresse 
For rent, to have kept Bayard in the stable." 



Stanza XII. 

Gloss, skomfet, discomfit — luf, love — dout, fear— -fule, full — 
ber, bear — doz troz, dough trough. 

L. 1. ' quoth Hud, Tyb, son schal thou se,' Harl. MS. 

L. 5. The remainder of this stanza forms part of stanza xiv 
in the Harl. MS., which has in this stanza the concluding lines 
of stanza xiii of the Cambridge copy. 

Stanza XIII. 

Gloss, bet, better — abye, pay penalty — thruz, through — ha, 
have — bar, bear — poudurt, powdered — brenyng drake, burning 
(or fiery) dragon — cantels, pieces, corners — ilke, each. 

L. 1. In the Harleian MS. this stanza is thus written — 

6 1 vow to God, quoth Hawkyn, yf he have the gowt, 
Al that I fynde in the felde thrustand here aboute, 
Have I twyse or thryes redyn thurgh the route, 
In ych a stede ther thay me se, of me thay schal have 
doute, 

When I begyn to play, 
I make a vowe that I ne schall, 
But yf Tybbe wyl me call, 
Or I be thryes don fall, 
Ryzt onys com away/ 

L. 8. thre cantels of a cake. — For the word cantel, see 
Minshew, in v. Caktle. An old Latin dictionary (Abce- 
darium Anglico Latinum pro tyrunculis Richardo Hula to 
exscriptore, — Lond. 1552) has — ' Cantel or shief of breade. 
MinutalJ The word occurs in Shakspeare, and also in Skelton 
(Elinour Rumming), who has the following passage : 



" And yet she broughte her fees 
A cantel of Essex chese, 
Was well a fote thicke." 

Stanza XIV. 
Gloss, bede, offer — er, are — byn, are — ber, bear — chefe, the 
upper part of the escutcheon — pechmyn, parchment — stondis, 
stands. 

L. 1. l Then sayd Terry, and swore be hys crede/ MS. Harl. 
I have already observed that in that MS. the five last lines of 
this stanza are those which in our Cambridge copy conclude 
stanza xii. 

Stanza XV. 

Gloss, stra, straw — swa, so — lizt, light — ra, roe — capull,hoise 
— ga, go — sothely, tmely—ffro, from — nozt, nought — other, or. 

L. 2. ' Whils me ys left my merth,' Harl. MS. for which 
last word Percy has substituted ' mare.' Perhaps the word in 
an earlier copy was ( merch ' a horse, which has been misunder- 
stood by both transcribers. The A.-Sax. mearh, equus, is now 
only preserved in the feminine mare. 

L. 6, 7. These two lines in the Harl. MS. stand thus — 

c Sche wyl me bere, I dar say, 
On a lang somerys day/ 

Stanza XVI. 

Gloss, wyrke, work — wiselier, more wisely — coost, region — 
lowz, laughed. 

L. 1. <thow speks of cold rost/ Harl. MS. This appears to 
have been a proverbial expression, signifying something hardly 
deserving of notice. 

L. 4. coost, — In the Latin Diet, of 1552, we have u coast or 



region, ether of the ay re, earth, or sea, as of the ayre, east, west, 
north, and south, &c. Regio, onis" In a collection of Hymns 
of the 14th century, (Bibl. Pub. Cant. MS. Ee. 1.12.) it is said 
of the Virgin Mary, 

" Sith thou art quene of euery coost, 
And thy sonne king of myghtes moost, 
So that for synne we be not loost, 

tuo nato nos consigna." 

L. 4. ' I wot I schal thaym wynne, and bring thaym to my 
cost,' Harl. MS. 

L. 5. ' And here I grant thaym Tybbe,' MS. Harl. 
L. 9. < Wyth so forth, Gybbe,' Harl. MS. 

Stanza XVII. 

Gloss, te, go (Ang. Sax. teon) — harnys, horns — contrt, 
country — dizt, dight, dressed — raton, rat, or, perhaps, rotten — 
ploo mell, plough-mell — mone lizt, moonlight. 

L. 1. The Harl. MS. has 'vowes ' for <othes' and <hie' for 
' te,' and in the next line ' homes ' for ' harnys. ? Probably I 
ought to have printed it ' hornys,' for in this MS. the distinction 
between the o and a is often imperceptible. 

L. 2. harnys and trumpis made of tre. " Perhaps wooden 
trumpets: musical instruments fit enough for a mock tourna- 
ment." Percy. In the middle ages horns appear to have been 
made, not uncommonly, of wood. M. Roquefort (De Tetat de 
la Poesie Francoise dans les xii e et xiii e siecles), quotes the 
following line from the Roman de Claris — 

" La oissiez maint cor de pin." 

i.e. horn of pine wood. 

e2 



Stanza XVIII. 

L. 6. € rotten fell/ MS. Harl. and < the chevron of/ in the 
next line. 

L. 7. a ploo mell. "A small wooden hammer occasionally 
fixed to the plough, still used in the north: in the midland 
counties in its stead is used a plough-hatchet." Percy. 

L. 9. 'poudred/ Harl. MS. 

Gloss, childer gamme, children's game — togeder, together — 
like, each-^/re/ce, man, fellow — bette, beat — hid, laid — lett, 
desist— fozt, fought— ferly, wonderfully — scheldis, shields. 

L. 8. * schatred/ Harl. MS. and in the next line c many hedys 
brokyn.' 

Stanza XIX. 

Gloss, clenkyng, clinking— -fel frekis, many fellows— -fannes, 
instruments for winnowing corn — sum, some — thannes, thence 
— swippyng, striking (A. Sax. swipan) — laddis, lads— : for-fozt, 
wearied with fighting — on loft, aloft, i. e. standing up — creppid, 
crept — crokid, crooked — crypils, cripples. 

L. 5. swipylles. " A swepyl is that staff of the flail, with 
which the corn is beaten out, vulg. a supple: called in the 
midland counties a swindgell; where the other part is termed 
the hand-staff." Percy. 

L. 6. ' boyes/ Harl. MS. and next line ' They myzt not 
fyzt mare olofiV 

Stanza XX. 

Gloss, lowte, bow — penys, pense — stert, started — hent, took 
— rauzt of, wrested from. 



Stanza XXI. 

Gloss, sa, so — tha, them — lese, lose — ston, stone — wist, knew 
— sonde, sending. 

Stanza XXII. 

Gloss, rest, rested — war, aware — lad, led — luf, love — drowe, 
drew — gaf, gave — inowe, enough — lowe, laughed — ze ar, you 
are — duzty, doughty. 

L. 2. This and the two following lines stand thus in the Harl. 
MS.: 

1 Among thos wery boyes he wrest and he wrang ; 

He threw tham doun to the erth, and thrast tham amang, 

When he saw Tyrry away with Tyb fang.' 

L. 5. 'and after hym ran/ Harl. MS. which has c horse' for 
1 capull ' in the next line. 

Stanza XXIII. 

Gloss, tuggut, tugged — ruggut, pulled violently — ny, nigh — 
fech, fetch — wyspys, wisps — kexis, dried stalks of hemlock, &c. 
called in Shropshire by the same name at the present day — 
criches, crutches. 

L. 3, 4 are transposed in the Harl. MS. which reads in the 
fourth ' and ryschys there lyzt.' 

L. 5-9. These five last lines stand thus in the Harl. MS. 

' And sum brozt gret harwos, 
Ther husbandes horn for to fetch, 
Sum on dores, and sum on hech, 
Sum on hyrdyllys, and som on crech, 

And sum on whele-barows.' 



Stanza XXIV. 

Gloss, gedurt, gathered — graunt, granted — gre, prize— gret, 
great — alnyzt, all night — nedis, needs. 
L. 5. 'and thay ifere assent,' Harl. MS. 
L. 8. 'the prayse-folk that hur led/ Harl. MS. 

Stanza XXV. 

Gloss, fest, feast — hiphalt, lame in the hip — trippande, trip- 
ping — onys, once — hedys, heads — woo, wo, woe — zet, yet. 

L. 1. 'that ylk fest/ Harl. MS. The same MS. has in the 
eighth line l bachelary y for c company/ and gives the last line 
of the stanza thus — 

' When thay met togedyr.' 

Stanza XXVI. 

Gloss, micull, much — mennys, men's. 

L. 2. cokeney. I am not quite sure of the correctness of 
Percy's interpretation of this passage, " that every five and five 
had a cook or scullion to attend them." It has been suggested 
to me that the word may mean a young cock. It probably refers 
to a popular proverb, and the following passage from Hey wood's 
proverbs, a book which has been already quoted, may perhaps 
help to illustrate it. (Part i. chap, xi) — 

" Men say 
He that comth euery daie, shall haue a cocknaie, 
He that comth now and then, shall haue a fat hen, 
But I gat not so muche in comyng seelde when, 
As a good hens fether or a poore egshell." 



Here the cockney seems to be something mean, contrasted with 
the fat hen. The following passage from Piers Plowman 
seems to leave no room for doubting that a cockney was some 
kind of lean or common meat of which the peasantry made 
collops. Piers (the ploughman) says to Hunger (I quote from 
a MS. in Trin. Coll. Camb.)— 

" ' I have no peny,' quod Piers 

' pulettes to bugge, 

ne neither gees ne grys, 

but two grene cheses, 

a fewe cruddes and creme, 

and an hauer cake, 

and two loues of benes and bran 

y-bake for my fauntes ; (children) 

and yet I seye, by my soule, 

I haue no salt bacon, 

ne no cokeney, by Crist, 

coloppes for to maken.' " 

In the already quoted dictionary of 1552, the word cockeney 
is found with the following explanation — " cockeney, Acersa. a . 
Vineolus, vel la, (?) et Delicias facer e, to playe the cockeney." 

L. 4. ' and at the last thay went to bed with ful gret deray,' 
MS. Harl. 

L. 9. six-men s song, a song for six voices. See Percy's 
note. 



NOTES ON THE FEEST. 

Stanza I. 
Gloss, trow, believe — be est, by east — schire, shire, county. 

Stanza II. 

Gloss, on, one — sich on, such a one — ne, nor — maistry, mas- 
tery — cucry, cookery— «Y/?, since. 

Stanza III. 

Gloss, thar, there — meyts, meats — dizt, dressed — sew, boiled 
— nenen, (or neuen) name. 

L. 4. I am satisfied that it should be ' be heuen,' i. e. by 
heaven, and that the last word of the next line should be 
1 neuen' — this last word (the A. Sax. nefhian) occurs in the 
Seven Sages, v. 3444. 

u Sone he cald the maisters seuyn, 
And twa he gan bi names neuyn" 

Stanza IV. 

Gloss, porra, a kind of pottage — rorra, (?) — sewys, 

broths— mashefa tts, mashing-vats — mortrewys, a kind of rich 
broth. 

L. 1. porra, — some kind of pottage. In the Prompt. Parvu- 
lorum, edit. 1499, we find " porry potage," but no latin equiva- 
lent is added. In a collection of cookery receipts in MS. 



Arund. No. 334. p. 277, the following receipt is given for 
making " blaunche porre." 

" Take tho qwyte of lekes, and parboyle hom, and hewe horn 
smal, and take onyons and mynse hom ther-wyth, and do hom 
in a pot, and put ther-to gode broth, and let hit boyle, and do 
ther-to smale briddes, and seth hom ther-wyth, and colour hit 
with saffroun, and do ther-to pouder marchant, and serue hit 
forthe " 

As, under the catholic religion, it was necessary to make par- 
ticular dishes in a different manner at different seasons of the 
year, so we have afterwards another receipt for making " blaunche 
porre, " and one for " gees in porre/' 

L. 3. This and the sixth line are defective from the action of 
damp on the paper. The three letters at the end of the sixth 
line would lead us almost to think that the third is complete, 
were it not so defective in its number of syllables. 

L. 5. mortrewys. Chaucer says of the cook (Cant. T. v. 
385.) : 

" He coude roste, and sethe, and broile, and frie, 
Maken ?nortrewes, and wel bake a pie/' 

" Lord Bacon, in his Nat. Hist. i. 48, speaks of l a mortress 
made with the brawn of capons stamped and strained.' He 
joins it with the cullice (coulis) of cocks. It seems to have 
been a rich broth, or soup, in the preparation of which the 
flesh was stamped, or beat, in a mortar : from whence it pro- 
bably derived its name, une mortreuse ; though I cannot say 
that I have ever met with the French word." Tyrwhitt. The 
word occurs in Piers Plowman (Passus xiii) ; 

"He eet manye sondry metes, 
mortrews and puddynges. 



wombe cloutes and wilde brawen, 
and egges fryed with grece." 

1 Wombe cloutes ' are tripes. Again — 

" Ffor now he hathe dronken so depe, 

he wole deuyne soone, 

and preuen it by hir pocalips 

and passion of seint Auereys, 

that neither bacon ne braun, 

blanck manger ne mortrews, 

is neither fisshe nor flessh, 

but fode for a penaunt." 

And a little before— a passage, by the way, which confirms 
Tyrwhitt's derivation of the word : 

" And this maister nor his man 

no maner flessh eten, 

ac thei eton mete of moore cost, 

mortrews and potages : 

of that men myswonne 

thei made hem wel at ese : 

ac hir sauce was ouer sour, 

and unsauourly grounde 

in a morter post mortem 

of many a bitter peyne." 

Stanza V. 

Gloss, alle, ale — mawmauy, a kind of pottage — thore, there. 

L. 5. maumauy. In the account of the feast at the installation 
of Archbishop Warham, printed in the appendix to Hearne's 
edit, of Leland's Collectanea, the word mamonie occurs several 
times — as " frumentie royal mamonie to potage" — " frumentie 



ryall and mammonie to potage" — " frumentie and mamonie for 
potage" — " mamonie ryall." I think I have done wrong in 
printing this word mawmauy, supposing it to be a double rhime 
to gravy ; the rhime, though bad, is perhaps only on the last 
syllable. In the Arundel MS. already quoted, we have the fol- 
lowing directions for making " mawmene to potage." (p. 297 — 
" Take almondes, and blaunche horn, and bray horn, and 
drawe horn vp wyth watur or wyn i then take tho branne of 
capons or fFesantes, and bray hit smal, and tempur horn vp wyth 
tho mylk, and do ther-to floure of rys, and put hit in a pot, and let 
hit boyle, and do ther-to pouder of ginger and of clowes and of 
canel and sugur, and take rys and parboyle hom and grynde 
hom and do ther-to ; and colour hit wyth saunders, and dresse 
hit forthe in dysshes, and take tho greynus of pome garnard and 
steke ther-in, or almondes or pynus fryed in grese, and strawe 
sugur aboue." 

Stanza VI. 

Gloss. zet,_ yet — ktt, left off— cum, came — mylne, mill — 
blaundisare, a kind of pottage — tho> those. 

L. 4. blaundisare. In the Arundel MS. is given the following 
receipt for making u Blaundesorre to potage." (p. 293) — 

" Take almondes, and grinde hom when thai byn blounchet, 
and tempur hom on fFyssheday wyth wyn, and on flesshday 
wyth broth of fflessh,. and put hit in a pot, and ther-to floure of 
rys, and let it boyle : then take tho branne of hennus or of 
capons, ande bray hom, and tempur hit vp wyth tho broth of tho 
capons, ande do hit in tho pot, and colour hit wyth saffroun, and 
do ther-to gynger mynced and powder of canel and sugur ynogh, 
and seme hit forth, and floressh hit wyth white annys." At p. 
379, we have a receipt for u blaundesorre vel blaunche mor- 
trewes." 

f 



Stanza VII. 

Gloss, iordans, pots — iussall, (" Jussell, a meat made of 
chopped herbes. Minutal" The old Latin Diet, of 1552, 
already quoted in explaining the word cantel,) — russall, fox — 
blobsterdis, (?) — sorre, a kind of pottage. 

L. 1. jordans. This word was used in later times to signify 
a chamber-pot. In Shakspeare's Hen. IV. part ii. (act 2, 
scene 4.) Falstaff enters, drunk, and singing — " When Arthur 
first in court — empty the Jordan — and was a worthy king ; [exit 
Drawer]." In Chaucer it seems to mean some kind of pot 
used by physicians. In the Pardoneres prologue, the host 
says to the doctor (Cant. T. v. 12238)— 

" I pray to God to save thy gentil corps, 
And eke thyn urinals, and thy jordanes, 
Thin Ypocras, and eke thy Galianes." 

On which Tyrwhitt observes — " This word is in Walsingham, 
p. 288, c duae oils, quas jordanes vocamus, ad ejus collum 
colligantur.' This is part of the punishment of a pretended 
phisicus et astrologus, who had deceived the people by a false 
prediction. Hollinshed calls them twojorden pots, p. 440." 

Iussall. Among the cookery receipts in the Arundel MS. is 
the following for " Jussel of fflessh." — " Take brothe of capons 
boylet with gode herbes, with percil ande sange and other gode 
herbes, and colour hit with sarTroun, and, for a lorde, take clene 
zolkes of eyron beten and cast in to tho brothe, and let hit boyle, 
and stere it wel tyl hit crudde to-gedur : and then dresse hit in 
disshes, and serue hit. But for communes, take eyren zolkes 
and al beten and medelet with grated bred, and sethe hit vp as 
thu didest before, and serue hit forthe." (p. 407.) This is fol- 



lowed by a receipt for " jussel enforced," and we have in another 
place a " jussel of ffysshe." 

L. 2. In Chaucer, the fox is called dan Russel. In the old 
German Reynard, the fox is distinguished by a similar appella- 
tion, from his red colour, cler rote. " Diese verbindung des 
rothen mit dem fuchs," observes Dr. J. Grimm, " hangt noch 
jetzt unserer sprache so an, dass wir einen rothhaarigen mens- 
chen, ein rothhaariges pferd/wc/is nennen und rothe goldstiicke 
Juchse" By some mysterious connection of the ideas, the 
colour, red, was symbolical of the character of treachery, faith- 
lessness, and cunning. Thus, in the German Heldensage, the 
faithless Sibich is described as having red hair and beard, 
as Judas also is represented in pictures. See Grimm, Reinhart 
Fuchs, p. xxix. The same idea is found in the early literature 
of our own country. Thus in the Semi-Saxon poem of the 
proverbs of King Alfred, preserved in a MS. of Trin. Coll. 
Cambridge (st. 37.) 

u \>e rede mon he is a quet, 
for he wole f?e }nn iwil red, 
he is cocker, }?ef, and horeling, 
scolde, of wrechedome he is king." 

This curious poem will be printed by my friend Mr. Kemble, 
in a book which he is preparing for publication, on the subject 
of the Saxon dialogues of Saturn and Salomon, which will be 
an invaluable illustration of the proverbs and popular philo- 
sophy of the middle ages, and in which he has pointed out 
several passages illustrative of the above idea. 

See also the proverb quoted in the Glossary to Robert de 
Brunne, p. 698. 

L. 4. sorre. — This seems to have been some sort of pottage for 



fish. In the feast at the installation of Archbishop Warham, in 
Leland, we have — " Perches in sorry" — " Eeles in sorry pot." 

The following directions are given in the Arundel MS. for 
dressing " Elus in sorry." — " Take elus, and cut horn on cul- 
pons, and wasshe horn, and take a potte, and do ther-in faire 
watur and a lytell wyn and onyons mynced and godeherbus, and 
let hit sethe : then do thi fysshe ther-to, and pouder of ginger and 
of canell, and colour hit withe saunders, and seme hit forthe." 
(p. 351.) Another receipt is afterwards given. 

Stanza VIII. 

Gloss, crvstis, crusts — charlett, a kind of pottage — ruban, (?) 
— rise, rice— -festis, feasts — gestis, stories, acts — ber, bear — prise, 
prize. 

L. 1. charlett. — In the Prompt. Parv. u charlet disshemete" 
is explained by the latin word " pepo." In the Arundel MS, 
we find the following directions for making " charlet." — " Take 
swete cowe mylk and put in-to a panne, and cast in ther-to 
zolkes of eyren, and tho white also, and sothen porke brayed, 
and sage, and let hit boyle tyl hit crudde, and colour hit with 
safron, and dresse hit vp, and seme hit forthe," (p. 409.) 

Stanza IX. 

Gloss, castrell, wine pots (see Skinner in v. Costrel) — 
cambys,(!) — capitis, horses — cullys, gravy sauce (coulis, 

Fr.) — blandamets, (?) — dorde, (?) — nedur, lower. 

L. 1. castrell. This is a Norman word. In one of the frag- 
ments of the French romances of Tristan, which was in the pos- 
session of Mr. Douce, the cup in which the love potion was 
,given to Tristram and Isoude is called a costerel (and a costeret), 



v. 637, &c. in the second volume of the valuable and interesting 
collection edited by M. Francisque Michel, (Pickering, 1835), 

" Lores vus baillat un costeret, 
N'ert gueres grant, mes petitet ; 
Dist ke vus ben le guardissez 
Cum s'amur aver voliez. 
Quant venimes en haute mer, 
Li tans se prist a eschaufer. 
Je avez vestu un blialt, 
Tressue fu, si oi chault ; 
Je oi sai, si a baivre demandai : 
Ben savez si vairs vus dis ai. 
Un valet, ki a mes pez sist, 
Levat e le costerel prist." 

Stanza X. 

Gloss, stedis, steeds — dongesteks, stacks of dung(?) or 
dung-forks (?) — -doralle, (?) — forsed, stuffed. 

L. 1 . Spanish horses were proverbially famous. " Destriers 
de Castele," i. e. war horses of Castille, in Spain, was a saying 
of the 13th century. See Crapelet, Proverbeset Dictons Popu- 
laires au xiii e siecle," p. 114. 

L. 2. the brute of Almayne. Among the receipts in the 
Arundel MS. occur the following, 

" Browet of Almayne." 

" Take conynges, and parboyle hom, and choppe horn on 
gobettus, and rybbus of porke or of kydde, and do hit in a pot, 
and sethe hit : then take almondes, and grynde hom, and tempur 
hit vp wyth brothe of beef, and do hit in a pot, and take clowes, 
maces, pynes, ginger mynced, and raysynges of Corance, and 



take onyons, and boyle horn : then cut horn, and do horn in tho 
pot, and colour hit wyth saffroun, and let hit boyle, and take tho 
flessh oute from tho brothe and caste ther-to, and take alkenet, 
and frye hit, and do hit in tho pot thurgh a streynour, and in tho 
settynge doun put ther-to a lytel vynegur and pouder of gynger 
medelet to-gedur, and serue hit forth." p. 292.) 

" Blaunche Bruet of Almayn," 

" Take kydus, or chekyns, and hewe hom on gobettus, and 
sethe hom, and do ther-to grapus and powder of gynger and of 
canell, and take almondes, and bray hom, and make gode mylke 
and do ther-to, and colour hit rede or zolwe, and serue hit forthe." 
(p. 295.) 

Many other " browets" or " bruets," or, as it is once spelt, 
" brutes," occur, as " bruet of eggus to potage," " elus in 
bruet," " browet of Almayne for x mees" (i. e. Christmas), 
" a kolde browet for soper," &c. 

I supposed once that the "brute of Almayne" was the boar. 
Perhaps it may be intended for a pun. There seems to be an 
allusion in the beginning of this stanza, as in other parts of 
the poem, to the fashion of having pastry on the table in the 
shape of all kinds of animals, &c. Thus also, long afterwards, 
Taylor, the water-poet, in his l Siege of Jerusalem/ — 

" And you braue dames, adorn'd with iems and iewels, 
That must haue cawdles, cullisses, and grewels, 
Conseru's and marchpanes, made in sundry shapes, 
As castles, toures, horses, beares, and apes." 

These representations were, in earlier times, called Subtleties. 
At the feast on the enthronization of Archbishop Nevill, printed 
in the appendix to Leland's Collectanea, we have several, as for 



example — " a suttletie of Saint William, with his coate armour 
betwixt his handes" — " a suttletie of Saint George" — " a dolphin 
in foyle, a suttletie" — " and a hart for a suttletie" — " a dragon, 
a suttletie :" and in that of Archbishop Warham, are mentioned 
several which were extremely elaborate, as, for instance," a sub- 
tiltie, a kyng syttyng in a chayre with many lordes about hym, 
and certayne knyghtes with other people standyng at the barre, 
and before them two knyghtes rydyngr on horsebacke in whyte 
harnesse, runnyng with speares at a tylt as men at armes." 

Stanza XI. 
Gloss, feterloks, iron bonds — payment, pavement. 

Stanza XII. 

Gloss, stid, stead, place — brede, bread — zow, you — went, 
think. 

L. 1. then. The MS. is defaced here; perhaps it should 
be ther. 

Stanza XIII. 

Gloss, abyl, able — lese,(J) — harows, harrows. 

Stanza XIV. 
Gloss, red, counsel, advise— -fere, company. 

Stanza XV. 
Gloss, ze, ye — sammen, together — knytte, knit 



Stanza XVI. 

Gloss, tharre,. bold — hert, heart — sche > she — late, let — sirris, 
sirs— alke, ilk, each. 

Stanza XVII. 

Gloss, can, know — ham, them — thore, there — eton, eaten — 
meytis, meats — brast, burst. 




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